High paying production jobs in Rapid City, SD with no degree

The best paid production occupations in Rapid City, SD that require no bachelor's degree — a high school diploma, a certificate, or an associate's degree is the typical entry. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Rapid City, SD run 10.8% below the national average (2024), so a Rapid City, SD salary is worth about 1.12× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find production jobs in Rapid City, SD

OccupationMedian, Rapid City, SD · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$70,290
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,320 – $93,100160
2Plant and System Operators, All Other$62,190
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,140 – $80,96030
3Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$57,780
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,170 – $64,890190
4Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$52,190
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,800 – $65,13070
5Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$51,690
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,340 – $71,000200
6Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$48,310
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,360 – $75,73070
7Machinists$47,840
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,650 – $61,37070
8Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$46,850
High school diploma or equivalent
$29,540 – $58,120100
9Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$46,090
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,270 – $56,38080
10Dental Laboratory Technicians$45,800
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,860 – $65,99050
11Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers$45,110
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,180 – $60,32040
12Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$40,760
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,090 – $45,98090
13Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$38,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,640 – $59,38080
14Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing$37,920
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,070 – $45,740130
15Bakers$37,690
No formal educational credential
$29,120 – $48,76050
16Printing Press Operators$37,550
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,960 – $60,72040
17Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$37,180
High school diploma or equivalent
$24,050 – $49,050230
18Butchers and Meat Cutters$37,060
No formal educational credential
$33,830 – $55,83080
19Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$32,950
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,740 – $40,00040
20Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$30,880
No formal educational credential
$28,950 – $36,150210

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianRapid City, SD	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$70,290	$49,320 – $93,100	160
2	Plant and System Operators, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,190	$43,140 – $80,960	30
3	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,780	$46,170 – $64,890	190
4	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$52,190	$40,800 – $65,130	70
5	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,690	$38,340 – $71,000	200
6	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,310	$36,360 – $75,730	70
7	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,840	$39,650 – $61,370	70
8	Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,850	$29,540 – $58,120	100
9	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,090	$32,270 – $56,380	80
10	Dental Laboratory TechniciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,800	$37,860 – $65,990	50
11	Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,110	$36,180 – $60,320	40
12	Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and FinishersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$40,760	$40,090 – $45,980	90
13	Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$38,970	$31,640 – $59,380	80
14	Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except SawingHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,920	$31,070 – $45,740	130
15	BakersNo formal educational credential	$37,690	$29,120 – $48,760	50
16	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,550	$33,960 – $60,720	40
17	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,180	$24,050 – $49,050	230
18	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$37,060	$33,830 – $55,830	80
19	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$32,950	$31,740 – $40,000	40
20	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$30,880	$28,950 – $36,150	210

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Rapid City, SD. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Rapid City, SD to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in Rapid City, SD with no degree

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